Pronounced 'Leh-nerd Skin'-nerd

Released: August 1973
Chart Peak: #27
Weeks Charted: 79
Certified Double Platinum: 7/21/87

1. I Ain't The One 2. Tuesday's Gone 3. Gimme Three Steps 4. Simple Man 5. Things Goin' On 6. Mississippi Kid 7. Poison Whiskey 8. Free Bird

Lynyrd Skynyrd broadly fit into the hard-driving improvisational blues format pioneered by the Allman Brothers, although the band's welcome bent for brevity keeps most of the tracks tight and to the point. On the other hand, their nine-minute "Freebird" jumps out of the group's debut LP: It offers a tour of blues guitar expertise, conducted by Allen Collins and to a riveting effect. In fact, Skynyrd work with three lead guitarists, a density of stringy instrumentation at times recalling Byrds as much as Allmans.

Eclectic (a shared predilection for much Southern rock), Skynyrd leans on everyone from Rolling Stones ("Tuesday's Gone") and Ry Cooder ("Things Goin' On") to Lovin' Spoonful ("Gimme Three Steps"). Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant mostly sounds like Keith Relf imitating Mick Jagger. Al Kooper's unobstrusively dapper production emphasizes the English connection with ever an eye to poppy parts, a mellotron here, electric 12-string there. But the blunter blues tracks form the album's meat with cuts like "Simple Man" revealing a no-nonsense powerhouse rock unit of modest proportions but considerable promise.

- Jim Miller, Rolling Stone, 11-6-73.